Fat belly, dementia linked
NEW
YORK (AP) — Having a big belly in your 40s can boost your risk of getting
Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia decades later, a new study suggests.
It’s
not just about your weight. While previous research has found evidence that
obesity in middle age raises the chances of developing dementia later, the new
work found a separate risk from storing a lot of fat in the abdomen. Even
people who weren’t overweight were susceptible.
That
abdominal fat, sometimes described as making people apple-shaped rather than
pear-shaped, has already been linked to higher risk of developing diabetes,
stroke and heart disease.
“Now
we can add dementia to that,” said study author Rachel Whitmer
of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif.
She
and others report the findings in Wednesday’s online issue of the journal
Neurology.
The
study involved 6,583 men and women who were ages 40 to 45 when they had
checkups between 1964 and 1973. As part of the exam, their belly size was
measured by using a caliper to find the distance between their backs and the
surface of their upper abdomens. For the study, a distance of about 10 inches
or more was considered high.
The
researchers checked medical records to see who had developed Alzheimer’s or
another form of dementia by an average of 36 years later. At that point the
participants were ages 73 to 87. There were 1,049 cases.
Analysis
found that compared to people in the study with normal body weight and a low
belly measurement:
—
Participants with normal body weight and high belly measurements were 89
percent more likely to have dementia.
—
Overweight people were 82 percent more likely if they had a low belly
measurement, but more than twice as likely if they had a high belly
measurement.
—
Obese people were 81 percent more likely if they had a low belly measurement,
but more than three times as likely if they had a high measurement.
Whitmer said there’s no precise way to
translate belly measurements into waist circumference. But most people have a
sense of whether they have a big belly, she said. And if they do, the new study
suggests they should get rid of it, she said.It’s not clear why abdominal fat would promote
dementia, but it may pump out substances that harm the brain, she said.
Dr. Samuel Gandy, who chairs the medical and scientific
advisory council of the Alzheimer’s Association, said the results fit.